The present invention relates to preventing theft of electronic equipment. More particularly, the present invention provides a device and method by which equipment is fastened to a locking mechanism.
There presently exists a number of devices and methods for preventing theft of equipment such as portable laptop computers and hand-held electronic devices. Typically, these methods include a fastening block which is either adhered to or screwed to an equipment's outer shell or casing. A wire cable or metal chain is then attached to the fastening block and the ends of the cable or chain are looped around a suitable immovable object and locked in place. This prevents the equipment from being removed by unauthorized persons. U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,507 of Jay S. Derman entitled "Wire Cable Locking Device" describes one such approach which is found to be successful.
In order to standardize the available methods of fastening securing devices to equipment, industry has incorporated security holes or slots in the outer shell of certain equipments. Conventional security slots are either rectangular or rounded in shape. A rounded hole that is circular permits a fastener to rotate in the hole 360 degrees, which could be advantageous for some equipment and easier to construct. Most security slots also incorporate the inside surface of the equipments outer shell, to which a device could engage in a locking mode.
It is intended that the securing method utilize a fastener that can be inserted in the security slot provided in the equipment and thereby secure the equipment to a cable or padlock.
For the user's convenience, and for that of the equipment manufacturer, the fastener device should be able to stay attached to the equipment once it is inserted in the security hole, and not require an externally applied means such as a lock or cable to hold it in place. Loose fasteners may easily fall out of equipment security holes during attachment of a group of equipments to a cable, causing unnecessary bother. The same thing may occur when one or more equipments are removed from a securing cable for any reason, such as during a sale. It is, therefore, highly desirable to have a security hole fastener that will stay in place once inserted, and will take particular effort to be removed.
There are presently many known fasteners used for fastening to a piece of equipment, such as a door. Most of these fasteners use swivelling or pivoting arms that must be held in place by an external lock. These fasteners suffer from being susceptible to loosening and possibly falling out of the equipment security hole because of their size and construction. Further, none are adapted specifically for use with modern portable electronic equipment bearing standardized security slots.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive and reliable fastening device to prevent theft of portable equipment. It is a further object of the present invention to utilize a design which economizes the materials used in construction of the device, but which provides a high threshold of security. An even further object is to provide a device that, once fastened to an equipment shell, may not be pulled out or loosened.